Defiant projectiles: what to expect from Russians at the European Gymnastics Championships

Russian athletes are competing for a whole host of medals at the European Gymnastics Championships, which starts on August 13 in Zagreb. The main hopes of our team are connected with Angelina Melnikova, Anna Kalmykova, Daniel Marinov. For the Russian national team, the upcoming start in Croatia is not only a fight for awards: the competition is the European selection for the World Cup in Rotterdam, where the three strongest teams will receive team licenses for the 2028 Olympics.

Melnikova vs. Esposito

For Angelina Melnikova, this will be the first European Championship since 2021. Five years ago in Basel, the Russian beat debutant Victoria Listunova in qualifying, but in the final of the individual all-around she made blunders on the balance beam and uneven bars and eventually became the silver medalist, losing just to Listunova. In the individual projectile finals, Melnikova won the fourth gold at the European Championships, showing the best result on uneven bars. In addition, she became the third in the vault and the second in floor exercises.

This time Angelina is able to improve her results. A 26-year-old native of Voronezh arrived in Zagreb with the status of the current world champion in the all-around. In the fall of 2025, Melnikova beat the titled American Leanne Wong in Jakarta. There she also became the world champion in vault and the silver medalist on uneven bars.

However, there were difficulties in preparing for the European Championship. Firstly, Melnikova had problems with her calf muscle, but, according to the coaches, she managed to recover. Secondly, the visa situation became an additional stress: the Russian woman got the opportunity to travel to Zagreb on the second attempt — after the intervention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The organizers do such things on purpose to make our athletes nervous," said Valentina Rodionenko, Honored Gymnastics coach of the USSR and the Russian Federation. — I think that politics should not interfere in sports. At the same time, our job is to train gymnasts so that they compete fairly. I don't think this situation will have much impact on our athletes. Everything will be fine.

The fight for the all-around gold in Croatia promises to be especially intense. There is no separate women's final: the European champion will be determined on August 13 based on the results of the qualification. On the same day, the gymnasts will qualify for the individual rounds and the team finals. On August 15, medals will be awarded in vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercises, and on August 16, the eight best teams will meet in the team final.

Melnikova's main rival in the all-around will be Manila Esposito. The Italian has won the last two European Championships and can take the third title in a row in Zagreb. Previously, only Nadia Comaneci and Svetlana Khorkina had won three European all-around gold medals in a row. European Gymnastics directly included Esposito and Melnikova's duel among the central plots of the tournament.

In addition to Esposito, Italy has the 2022 European all-around champion Asia D'Amato and 16-year-old Giulia Perotti. The Italians will defend the team title.

Great Britain has a strong selection of gymnasts, where Ruby Evans and the most experienced Becky Downey are announced. Germany is counting on Karina Schoenmaier and Helen Kevrik, who returned after the break. Among the contenders for the individual finals are also Naomi Visser from the Netherlands, Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voynya, Frenchwoman Lorette Sharpy and Spaniard Alba Petisko.

—Let Angelina leave all her worries here, not worry about going to the European Championship, and worthily defend the honor of our great country," Svetlana Khorkina emphasized to SE. — It will be easier for the girls when such an experienced athlete is around. The results should be better. I was waiting for a positive decision on the issue of Angelina's visa. Everyone was worried, but I gave myself a break to calm down. I believed! They shouldn't lose their minds completely. Let Angelina catch up with the girls, join the fight and win. But, of course, our nerves got messed up. Plus, Victoria Listunova was never allowed in.

Loss of Listunova

Russia's bid for the European Championship also includes Anna Kalmykova, Lyudmila Roshchina, Alyona Glotova and Elizaveta Us. At least the first two can compete for finals and medals.

In the 2026 World Cup series, Kalmykova won the overall floor exercise competition, scoring 55 points and ten ahead of Spaniard Laia Font. In the vault, the Russian became the second in the overall standings — only the experienced Slovenian Thea Belak was ahead. Back at the first stage of the season in Cottbus, Kalmykova immediately won two gold medals. Therefore, in Zagreb, it is logical to consider her primarily as a contender for the finals of floor exercises and vault.

Roschina has another important advantage — the all-around experience at the highest level. At the 2025 World Cup, she qualified for the finals with the seventh result, and finished 11th in the final. In the spring of 2026, Lyudmila won the vault and floor exercises at the World Cup in Antalya, won silver on the uneven bars and became fourth on the balance beam. This versatility is especially valuable in a team tournament.

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The loss for Russia was the absence of Victoria Listunova. The 21-year-old Olympic champion could not get a neutral status for a long time without a clear explanation of the reasons (there were only vague hints of likes and reposts on social networks). After World Gymnastics lifted the previous restrictions for Russian and Belarusian athletes, the special admission format was lifted, which opened the way for Listunova to the international arena. However, then the gymnast was denied a Croatian visa.

It should be noted that at the same championship there is a special procedure in relation to Russian symbols. The Croatian authorities took advantage of a loophole in the decision of the International Federation, according to which exceptions are allowed for tournaments approved before the decision to lift restrictions from Russians and Belarusians. Therefore, in Zagreb, our team will perform without the national flag, anthem and other state identifiers, and in the protocols the team is designated by the code WG2.

Marinov's competitors

The men will compete on August 19, and Daniel Marinov will be the main hope for our national team. At the 2025 World Championships in Jakarta, he won the bronze medal on parallel bars.: The Russian scored 14.466 points and lost only to Chinese Zou Jingyuan and Japanese Tomoharu Tsunogoi. This makes the uneven bars the most obvious Russian medal event in Zagreb. However, Daniel is able to fight for the podium on other projectiles. In April, at the Cairo World Cup, he won floor exercises, and in July, at the Russian Championships, he became the first in vault and uneven bars.

Russia initially announced Arseniy Dukhno, Savely Sedin, Ilya Zaik, Sergey Naidin and Mukhammadjon Yakubov for the adult tournament. Naidin, however, was among those members of the delegation whose visa refusal was not reviewed by the Croatian authorities. The team has other potentially strong specialists: Dukhno scored World Cup points in floor exercises and uneven bars in the spring, and Sredin was among the winners of Russian competitions on the crossbar.

The competition for men will be exceptionally tight. Turkey's Adem Asil is defending the European all-around title, Switzerland's Noe Seifert won the bronze medal at the World Championships a year ago. Eleftherios Petrunias will try to win his ninth European gold on the rings, Olympic champion Rhys McClenaghan will face reigning European champion Hamlet Manukyan on horseback.

Olympic champion Artyom Dolgopyat remains one of the favorites in floor exercises, and Ukrainian Nazar Chepurny remains one of the favorites in vault. The application also includes experienced Marios Georgiou (Cyprus), Joe Fraser, Harry Hepworth (both from Great Britain), Ferhat Arican (Turkey), Ryderley Zapata (Spain) and a number of other gymnasts with medals of major tournaments.

The format of the men's competition is similar to the women's: on August 19, the qualification will determine the European champion in the all-around, followed by two days of individual finals, and on August 23, the tournament will end with the team final. The Russian national team will compete in the second subgroup of the qualification.